{"id":6301,"date":"2011-11-09T10:12:07","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T18:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/content26.com\/?p=6301"},"modified":"2017-02-22T09:55:15","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T17:55:15","slug":"the-holidays-not-over-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/987654321.space\/c26_dev\/blog\/the-holidays-not-over-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Holidays: Not Over Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beware Holiday Shopping; It’s On the Move<\/h2>\n

My friend Will recently warned us<\/a> that the holiday season is nearly upon us. To that I say: bull. It’s practically past. According to a Compete<\/strong> Holiday Insight Survey, more than 50 percent of consumers had begun their holiday purchasing as of October 24. And, according to another Compete survey<\/a>, 3 percent of consumers had completed<\/em> their holiday purchases by October 16. That’s more than two months in advance (we know who you are, Aunt Teresa). And take note here, too, my dear content merchandiser: early bird shoppers tend to spend more and prefer to shop online. This year, the average online purchase is about 30 percent higher than in-store spending. The bell of opportunity is ringing… or maybe it’s almost rung.<\/p>\n

Read more at blog.compete.com<\/a>. Reports are published regularly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/h2>\n

Virtual Gift Cards for Last-Minute Shoppers<\/h2>\n

For those of us in the 49 percent, who plan to start shopping closer to December 16, 17, 18… 24… virtual gift cards are a relieving solution. Starbucks<\/strong>, Overstock.com<\/strong>, Best Buy<\/strong>, Gap Inc.<\/strong>, Pizza Hut<\/strong>, Staples<\/strong>, and American Express<\/strong> all offer a virtual gift card option, and it looks like more retailers will be jumping in.<\/p>\n

“‘We added the (e-gift card) option because we increasingly see our customers access our brand through mobile and online means,’ said Pizza Hut spokesman Chris Fuller.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A signal of a larger trend, the virtual gift card stole 4 percent of last year’s total gift card market. Target<\/strong> and Starbucks have also introduced mobile phone gift cards in an effort to take advantage of the rampant addiction to smartphones (stick around for an upcoming Ping post on how a smartphone can be bad for your business and how you can make it work for you).<\/p>\n

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Read the full story at foxbusiness.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beware Holiday Shopping; It’s On the Move My friend Will recently warned us that the holiday season is nearly upon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[789],"tags":[589],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n